3 luxury hotels showing off their makeovers

When the owners of the Rancho Valencia resort acquired the sprawling Rancho Santa Fe property in 2010 for $15 million, they knew it was in need of an update, but weren’t sure just how extensive that update would need to be.

Thirty million dollars later, the 45-acre luxury resort is ready to show off its redo, which the owners hope will catapult it into the rarefied league of premier California destination resorts the likes of Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley and the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur.

Spending twice the purchase price on a renovation, while hardly the norm when taking over a new hotel property, is still indicative of the lengths to which both new and existing hotel owners will go to raise the profile of their properties in the increasingly competitive lodging industry.

That’s especially true for higher-end resorts that are wrangling to land discriminating travelers who have the financial wherewithal to dine in upscale restaurants and spend money on expensive spa treatments.

Rancho Valencia, which boasts a new bar, wine cave and yoga pavilion, is one of three marquis hotels in San Diego County that have changed hands in the last couple of years and have since undertaken extensive makeovers designed to not only fill rooms year-round but also pave the way for potentially higher room rates.

“What we realized when we did our due diligence was that Rancho Valencia was a highly ranked property and a No. 1 tennis resort, but that there had not been a lot of upgrades or enhancements since the late 1980s when it was built,” said Jeff Jacobs, one of the Rancho Valencia owners, along with brothers Hal, Gary and Paul, and San Diego real estate developer Jeffrey Essakow and Fiji Water CEO Doug Carlson. They acquired the resort from the family of Harry Collins, who developed Rancho Valencia in 1989.

“Our hope now is that if you’re a discerning traveler and you can choose any other place in California to go to, you’ll choose Rancho Valencia.”

Still in the midst of multimillion-dollar updates are the historic La Valencia in La Jolla and the much more contemporary Estancia, also in La Jolla. Added flourishes such as a couples treatment room with a soaking tub for two at Estancia’s spa and a new oceanfront dining terrace at La Valencia are the kinds of improvements the hotels are betting will lure locals in addition to overnight patrons.

“All three of those hotels were showing signs of wear, and in order to be competitive you have to invest some money to catch up,” said San Diego hotel consultant Jerry Morrison. “The longer it has been since the last renovation the more extensive the next one has to be. With Rancho Valencia, they’re re-imagining the hotel so that it will be more appealing to the luxury guest.”

Here’s a look at the revamps already unveiled or planned for each of these luxury properties.

The costliest of the resort’s improvements were renovations of all 52 of the 1,000-square-foot casitas, which command rates of $600 to $1,200 a night. Furnishings were imported from Mexico City, and the bathrooms were gutted and enlarged, with new French limestone on the floors and countertops. Flat panel TVs were also installed in the bathrooms, and hot tubs and fireplaces were added to the patios of several rooms.

The resort’s signature restaurant, Veladora, was updated but still has the feel of a hacienda, accented with a color palette of cobalt blue, orange, red and brown and a 7-foot square piece of art that incorporates real butterflies into the design. The bigger change, though is the addition of a new bar called the Pony Room that Jeff Jacobs said is supposed to be an homage to his heroes, John Wayne and James Dean.

“I thought they were cool guys so we came up with this rugged, Ralph Lauren feel for a bar that attracts both the horse crowd and younger people,” said Jacobs, son of Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs. “We didn’t want to create another W-style bar but on Friday and Saturday nights we do have musicians who come in.”

In a move to boost business from the surrounding local community, the owners added a 1,000-square-foot yoga pavilion to the existing fitness center, which will allow it to sell yoga retreats, Jacobs noted.

“While the outside of the resort looks very much the same, almost all the insides of each building were changed,” he said. “It’s more an interior design job than an architectural job.”

A La Jolla mainstay for much of the last century, the Pink Lady had grown tired in recent years and while needing a major refreshing, structural repairs were required as well.

San Diego-based Pacifica Cos., which purchased the hotel for $41 million last year from its longtime owners, the Collins family, acknowledged that major work was needed to revitalize what had become a tired property.

“It’s a great asset, but it needs capital,” said Len Howell, who oversees acquisitions for Pacifica. “There had been very little upgrading and maintaining of the quality of the product, so we went in with our eyes open anticipating we’d be spending money. We need to continue to put money into it to attract the guests who are prepared to pay the rates that hotel is able to achieve.”

The already completed first phase of the estimated $10 million redo focused on an overhaul of the original 1928 elevator, along with a new paint job and kitchen upgrades. Still ongoing is a renovation of all 112 guest rooms and villas that will be modernized while still retaining an essence of French Provincial.

More substantial changes will come early next year, when the hotel expects to demolish and rebuild the entry colonnade and redesign the long-standing Whaling Bar and adjoining Cafe La Rue, re-imagined as a more casual dining venue minus the Whaling Bar name.

Interested in capitalizing on the hotel’s panoramic of the Pacific, the owner is hoping to get approval to expand the existing lobby lounge terrace to create a much larger outdoor area for oceanview dining. Still pending is a possible spa that would be located in a 1920s era bungalow home the hotel owns.

Still unclear is the fate of the 10th floor Sky Room restaurant, which will close at the end of this year for dinner business but will be used next year for catered events and winemaker dinners. At one time a sun room in the 1960s, the relatively confined space, which has just 12 tables, could potentially be converted into guest suites, said Managing Director Mark Dibella.

Purchased last year for $56 million, the hotel is in the midst of a multiphase revamp that is expected be finished by the end of next year.

The $6.3 million makeover of the 8-year-old hotel includes a refreshing of all the guest rooms, designed with a lively color combination of Navy blues, whites and bursts of orange. The pool area already has been redone, with new cabanas, firepits and a bar and grill.

The 7,000-square-foot spa also will be updated, incorporating two outdoor bungalows that will include a couples treatment room. The lobby will be redone as well, along with an expansion of the hotel’s signature dining venue, Mustangs & Burros. Later next year, the Estancia’s 21,600 square feet of meeting space will be modernized, and additional ballroom space is planned.

“If we did not make these changes, we would have a potential to lose business,” said General Manager Terry Bucholz. “If everyone else is updating, of course we’re going to lose out.”